Monthly Archives: May 2016

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Space and space travel intrigues me. So a book about traveling to Mars is right up my alley. An astronaut being stranded on the red planet is scary. Much of the book is written in log entry form from Watney and what he does to help ensure his survival.

The blurb:

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

This book way soooo good! I can’t wait to see the movie (I hope it lives up to the book).

My friend Ryan over at The Real Book Spy asked me to do a Throwback Thursday Review for his website, in which I gladly accepted. My choice was Brad Taylor’s “One Rough Man” and it actually took me quite some time to do since I wanted to do it in the format than Ryan uses and not just copy and paste the book’s blurb. Like I’ve said before, I’m not big on writing reviews because the words that I want to express don’t come to me. I gave it a whirl. And it came out pretty good. I sure hope it did the book justice because it is a fantastic thriller!

“One Rough Man” is the first in the Pike Logan series. And of course it is one of my favorites (the first ones always tend to be). I love Pike Logan, but I just might love Jennifer Cahill more. Even though she isn’t in Pike’s league, she proves that she can hold her own. Another reason for the love of this book, there’s a little archaeology happening (hello Indiana Jones – well, not really, but it’s fun). If you are a Flynn/Thor fan, and haven’t read Taylor yet, you need to!! And he’s not only a great author, he’s a really great person 🙂

The blurb:

They call it the Taskforce. Their existence is as essential as it is illegal. Commissioned at the highest level of the U.S. government. Protected from the prying eyes of Congress and the media. Built around the top operators from across the clandestine, intelligence, and special forces landscape. Designed to operate outside the bounds of U.S. law. Trained to exist on the ragged edge of human capability.

Pike Logan was the most successful operator on the Taskforce, his instincts and talents unrivaled-until personal tragedy permanently altered his outlook on the world. Pike knows what the rest of the country might not want to admit: The real threat isn’t from any nation, any government, any terrorist group. The real threat is one or two men, controlled by ideology, operating independently, in possession of a powerful weapon.

Buried in a stack of intercepted chatter is evidence of two such men. The transcripts are scheduled for analysis in three months. The attack is mere days away. It is their bad luck that they’re about to cross paths with Pike Logan. And Pike Logan has nothing left to lose.